TGCFNM -Chapter 139 How Should You Be Judged

Chu Ling glared at Jiang Zisheng, her voice seeming to be squeezed out from deep in her throat. “Do you still have anything to say?”

“Jiang Zisheng” curled the corners of his lips, a mocking expression on his face. “Sir, one of us has killed someone, the other hasn’t. How do you plan to judge us?”

“One is a murderer, the other a coward who knew and did nothing to stop it—both of you are guilty!” Chu Ling said coldly. “Jiang Zixin, do you still think you can escape?”

Jiang Zixin laughed wildly at the sky and looked at Chu Ling with madness. “Then, sir, do you have the ability to kill me? Kill me, and Jiang Zisheng dies too. He’s innocent!”

Chu Ling sneered. “Innocent? How is he innocent?”

“Sir, only those who kill need to pay with their lives. I didn’t kill anyone—how should I pay?” Jiang Zixin smiled strangely, as if it didn’t matter at all.

Chu Ling shouted angrily, “Jiang Zixin!”

Jiang Zixin toned down his expression slightly but still asked provocatively, “Sir, how should you judge me? How should you judge so that the people are satisfied?”

Chu Ling glanced at Madam Jiang, who was already dazed, and said gravely, “Madam Jiang, even if Jiang Zisheng didn’t commit the murder, he would have seen himself covered in blood. And you, lying beside him, didn’t smell a thing?”

Madam Jiang shuddered and collapsed to the ground.

Chu Ling clicked her tongue: Not a single one worth pitying.

She turned her gaze back to Jiang Zixin, pointing at the teeth marks. “Do you remember these bite marks? Who made them?”

Jiang Zixin was silent for a moment, frowning. “Zhizhi.”

Chu Ling slammed the table. “The woman Jiang Zisheng liked so much, the woman he was about to marry—why did you kill her?”

“I adored her,” Jiang Zixin said unexpectedly. “I wanted to keep her forever. But women age, don’t they? Isn’t it better to preserve her at her most beautiful?”

Chu Ling frowned. “Then why did you torture the dead?”

Jiang Zixin’s lips curved in a smile. “The elders say that when someone dies, they must be buried whole to be reincarnated. Only if I destroy them can their souls be forever bound to the wooden dolls… To me, they are living collectibles.”

“But—” Jiang Zixin suddenly stared at Xiao Hua as if insane. “You destroyed them. You actually killed them! You murderer, you must not—”

Xiao Hua swung the stick and struck him.

Jiang Zixin’s back was hit, and he fell to the ground, coughing violently.

Chu Ling clenched her fists, gritting her teeth as she continued, “Why, six months after killing Zhizhi, did you suddenly go on a rampage, killing three more people?”

Jiang Zixin struggled to lift his head, coughing endlessly. “Cough… he seemed to notice me, then suppressed me… cough, cough… But my parents said we had to move. He refused, went insane. During that time… it was all me… cough, cough…”

Chu Ling took a deep breath, her expression controlled calm.

She glanced at the angry crowd outside, then back at Jiang Zixin below the hall. Her voice was deep: “You ask me how I should judge you, so the people are satisfied?”

Jiang Zixin straightened himself with effort, looking up at Chu Ling, still mocking. “Exactly, sir. How will you judge?”

Chu Ling smiled, her eyes cold as ice. “I have never been a tyrant, and I have always valued the opinions of the people. So today, I will ask the people: how should I judge this case?”

Jiang Zixin braced himself and glanced back.

Those pairs of furious eyes seemed to have already given him the answer.

Kill him!

Kill him!

Elder Song grabbed Jiang Zisheng by the collar with all his strength, crying bitterly: “It’s not just one life lost—it’s five! Whether it’s you who killed them or him who covered it up, you both deserve to die! You deserve to die!”

“Elder Song… Elder Song…” Jiang Zisheng suddenly came to his senses. “I didn’t kill Zhizhi… I didn’t… I didn’t kill her!”

Xu Gensheng shouted in anger: “Master! Five lives! Do you think saying ‘it wasn’t me’ can erase five deaths?”

After observing Jiang Zisheng for a long while, Chu Ling finally realized something was off.

“A normal person, if they knew someone died because of them, would panic, feel guilt, suffer, maybe even go insane. But you… you kept insisting you were innocent, desperately trying to escape responsibility.”

Jiang Zisheng’s eyes trembled as he anxiously lowered his head.

“So… when did it start?” Chu Ling squinted. “When did your memories begin to merge, and when did you start accepting that Jiang Zixin committed the murders?”

Jiang Zisheng suddenly raised his head, his face turning pale as death in an instant.

Chu Ling felt there was no need for further interrogation and directly issued the order:

“I hereby pronounce judgment: the murderer Jiang Zixin—also known as Jiang Zisheng—jointly responsible for the deaths of five people. With witnesses and evidence, according to the laws of the Great Zhou, the sentence is execution, to be carried out in half a month!”

“Clear the court!”

Jiang Zisheng collapsed to the ground, and Han Jin and the others dragged him out.

Madam Jiang followed, crying and shouting, desperately grabbing Jiang Zisheng’s sleeve. “Husband… husband, tell me… tell me none of this is true! As long as you say you were framed, I’ll report it to the capital, I’ll go to the palace… I’ll bang the wrongs drum—I’ll risk this life to clear your name! Tell me… tell me…”

Jiang Zisheng glanced at the bite mark on his right arm, closed his eyes, and said in pain: “From the moment I noticed the bite mark, I knew.”

Madam Jiang muttered in disbelief: “Why… why?”

“He was born smarter than me, better at his craft. The tables, chairs, and beds he carved always sold for high prices… I couldn’t match him, yet the world only knew me, Jiang Zisheng.” Jiang Zisheng laughed suddenly, a touch of madness in his voice. “No one could ever carve better than me again… no one, never again!”

Madam Jiang suddenly let go, trembling: “You’re insane! You kept silent just because of his craft? You could have achieved that through diligent practice too!”

“No! Never! Never!” Jiang Zisheng shouted in a frenzy.

Han Jin, Han Yin, and the others had no choice but to cover his mouth, escorting the now-crazed Jiang Zisheng to the dungeon.

Madam Jiang collapsed to the ground, utterly devastated.

But, just as the official above had asked… hadn’t she smelled the blood? She had. When the constables came to arrest people, she had followed in fear—but she had protected him, never telling the truth.

Now, perhaps, this was her karma.

Chu Ling glanced at Madam Jiang collapsed on the ground and softly said, “Perhaps… only those few children are truly innocent.”

“To have such parents…” Wan Sanjin trailed off, looking at Chu Ling.

Chu Ling nodded slightly. “If they want to leave, don’t let Mei Gao stop them. Let them go.” After all, the children are innocent.